Instant classic

This cheerful green cottage high on a Wisconsin bluff overlooking Green Bay was built in 2005 — but looks very much like one that the owner's grandparents once lived in nearby.

When Melissa and Andy Mather enlisted local architect Virge Temme to design their four-bedroom summer getaway, they asked her to duplicate a 1920s Door County cottage. So, in keeping with the local architecture, they built charming gabled roofs with dormers and large overhanging eaves supported with brackets. Even the wood siding's grass green color is homegrown. The Mathers fell in love with the hue after spotting it on a vintage structure in nearby Fish Creek, so Virge marched up to it with paint chips in hand to find a match.

Click ahead to read more about this Door County cottage. A resource guide is on slide 12.

Authentically old

The Mathers went to great lengths to make the cottage feel authentically old, as if it had already weathered many summers of wet bathing suits and the sandy feet of their four children and six grandchildren. "Andy said something to me like 'It needs to feel believable,'" Virge says. "I started thinking about actual building practices and materials that were used in the 1920s."

Early Door County residents would have gotten their home building materials locally, so that's what Virge did. The team excavated stones from the property to build the fireplace, outdoor walkways and stairs. All the timber used—in beams, columns, exposed rafters and interior walls—was harvested within 30 miles of the house. Virge took Melissa and Andy to visit the local sawmill supplying the wood. "They met the guy who was going to take down the trees and mill their wood. That gives you a strong sense of history and community."

Enjoying the outdoors

For all the charms inside the 3,200-square-foot house, Mother Nature lures the family and guests outside for swimming in Green Bay, walking a mile into town for ice cream, roasting marshmallows at the fire pit the Mathers' sons built with stones from the shore or enjoying the gorgeous view from the back porch (pictured).

Wicker porch furniture, repainted several times, is more than 100 years old and came from Andy's parents' cottage. "We live out on the porch," says Melissa. "The water, the breeze—it's spectacular!"

Kitchen charm

A local carpenter built in new paneled cabinetry and open shelving. Pine planks cover the walls and ceilings, and - just as in 1920s cottages — knotholes in the floors provide perfect spying spots for youngsters above. "The grandkids can look through the cracks and holes in the bunk room floor and see us in the kitchen," says Melissa.

Old detailing

Master bedroom views

Transom-topped French doors in the master bedroom open up to a private deck outfitted with hot-pink Adirondack chairs. "The room gets a ton of light," says Melissa. "At night, it's gorgeous with the moonlight coming in."